YAF crosses defaced in MC, College Democrat takes responsibility

A number of crosses used by the Young America’s Foundation during an anti-abortion event last week were defaced and left in a Marvin Center office, and a member of the College Democrats has taken responsibility.

Members of the College Republicans found the crosses on Monday evening scattered around the office they share with the College Democrats. One was pinned upside down on a bulletin board and draped with a condom, another featured a drawing of Jesus along with the words “pwned” and “lol,” and others were emblazoned with words like “Darwin” and “Amelia West,” the vice president of the CDs.

A CD statement Thursday morning said a member of their organization had stepped forward and apologized for the vandalism. The perpetrator was not named.

Courtesy GW College Republicans

“We respect and welcome individuals from all religious backgrounds, and we extend our sincerest apology to those who were offended by the actions of one of our members,” the release said. CD leaders declined to comment further.

YAF President Rob Lockwood said the incident has been reported to the University Police Department, and the crosses are now in the department’s custody.

The College Republicans also addressed the incident in a news release.

“The College Republicans are outraged by the desecration of Christian symbols that occurred in our shared office with the College Democrats,” the release stated.

College Republicans Chairman Brand Kroeger said he appreciated the College Democrats’ response.

“The leadership of the College Democrats has been very apologetic during our conversations and we look forward to resolving this situation,” he said.

Updated at 5 p.m.: University Spokesperson Tracy Schario said the student responsible has been identified by the University and will face disciplinary action under the Code of Student Conduct. UPD is investigating the incident further.

In a statement, University President Steven Knapp condemned the student’s actions.

“Such actions are unacceptable and utterly incompatible with the spirit of mutual respect that is essential to the life of an academic community,” he said.

This kid better be dealt with the same way they dealt with the swastika incident last year. If this was anything against judaism there would be outrage and the FBI would be brought in.

None

What a non-apologetic “apology.” We’re sorry you were offended?? How about “this is inexcusable and will not be tolerated?” What a joke.

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Dave

Did anyone tell them they don’t have to sink to new lows? You won the election, now have some integrity.

V.

This is an outrage. It is a painful demonstration of how intolerant and hypocritical some people can be.
The CD’s should publicly apologize, not only to the CR’s and YAF, but to the Christian communities inside the University.

KBR

I think this is an outrage but I think we should be very careful about how this is written or talked about. From what I’ve heard, this wasn’t done by the dems as a whole and once they found out about it they started taking steps to resolve the issue and were really apologetic to the few people who encountered the crosses. This is an easy thing to be upset about and I’m really outraged but I think we should be careful about who we attribute that outrage to.

Britt

This is despicable. Even if it was just an individual they obviously had access to the CD/CR office which means they were more than minimally involved in the CDs. Also, it should be common knowledge that when you align yourself with an organization not only do the actions of the organization reflect on you, but your actions reflect on the organization.

WGF

I suggest the Hatchet writers/editors look into how this person gained access to the office.

CM

This is a perfect example of liberal hypocrisy. Liberals say they are the people of equality, mutual respect and understanding yet on this campus and nationwide they pull stunts like this that exemplify exactly the contrary. If a republican committed this act, they would most likely be suspended from this university. In this case, the perpetrator probably will get off with a slap on the wrist. If a conservative committed this act every liberal/democrat on this campus would be calling for their head. This act is unequivocally despicable and the person who committed it should be ashamed of themselves. Get over yourself! Shouldn’t you all be celebrating the fact that you control the government and preparing to “heal the world” instead of defacing religious symbols. The perpetrator should be prosecuted to the FULLEST extent within the Code of Student Conduct to send a clear and unwavering message that this type of behavior that counters the sense of community and inclusiveness we claim to promote here in Foggy Bottom will NOT be tolerated. Liberal Hypocrisy exhibit A!

ralph

CM….

because one liberal being a hypocrite indicts the liberal ideology or the democratic party as a whole…

REALITY CHECK

Josh

Present-day “liberal fascism” – or ideology if you want – seeks to make everyone confine to accepting the tenants liberalism, shunning ideals of the conservative movement, and preventing true diversity.

BS

Reports suggesting this actually occurred during a CD E-Board meeting with the entire E-Board present.

Typical liberals: lying through their teeth.

DR

Hey, BS (commenter above). What you’re talking about is BS. I don’t know what reports you’re citing, but I’ve got inside information that you’re talking out of your butt.

I also love how commenters here are assigning collective blame to all liberals over the actions of one person. Just because Rush Limbaugh is a hypocrite for abusing drugs while taking an anti-drug stance in public, does that make all conservatives hypocrites?

2H2

DR-

BS is actually right. If you had any “inside” information you’d know that.

Expect the story alluded to by BS to come out in a few days. The CDs can’t hide from the truth for that much longer.

deadsteve

HATE CRIME!

Josh

It actually is. ^

Sam

This is a post responding to Juqua. I think you should watch your words. Jewish students at this school are treated no differently than students of any other religion. This issue will be delt with in the same way as any other issue of this magnitude.

Anonymous

“Reports suggesting this actually occurred during a CD E-Board meeting with the entire E-Board present.”

College Dems don’t have E-board in their office.

PBen

If it isn’t immediately obvious by the lack of salacious details in this blog entry, this is still an ongoing investigation. So those who know aren’t talking, and those who talk don’t know a thing.

Pat

I agree with the above poster who said that whoever is responsible for doing this should be punished according to the Code of Conduct – those are the rules we all agree to abide by. However, to assign guilt to all liberals, or even all the CD’s, is just juvenile. As a liberal, I didn’t particularly care for the YAF display, but I did what any other decent person would do: walked by and left them in peace. And many of the comments above have no place here – once you stray from the discussion of the actual news event and start trashing someone else’s views, you’re way off base and close to condoning the stupid behavior described in the article.

CM

hey RALPH,

Notice how you failed to address my point that if a conservative did this, you liberals would be calling for his/her expulsion crying about hate crimes and all sorts of violations. You failed to address the double standard you enjoy on college campuses and nationwide.

Now-Former CD Member

Well, looks like they just lost my money and support. I’m ashamed to go to this school. Grow up guys.

Enraged

So does anyone know who did it?

Anonymous

“Well, looks like they just lost my money and support. I’m ashamed to go to this school. Grow up guys.”

If you already paid your dues…it doesn’t matter.

AR

Okay, so apparently a few things need to be cleared up here. First of all, the College Democrats as a group are not responsible for the actions taken by one or a few of its members. If it occurred during a CD E-Board meeting, then it is impossible for the ENTIRE board to be implicated since they do not conduct their meetings in the office. Second of all, I’m a liberal and find this disgusting. People like Josh, CM, 2H2 and BS need to stop doing the stupid name-calling that does absolutely no good. Just because I’m a “dirty liberal” does not mean in any way that I condone this behavior at all; in fact, I would like the person or persons who is/are responsible to be brought upon the full brunt of SJS and the Code of Conduct for their defacing of another group’s property, no matter what the message is (anyone heard of the First Amendment lately?). Third, however, I do find the reaction by the CDs as too little – if anyone on the E-Board knows about this, they should immediately report it to UPD who should take appropriate actions.

Seriously, we are all in college. No need for the name-calling.

countrycuz

It’s hard not to blame the libs since there seems to be a pattern that they set in regards to intolerance. Overall, they are so self-righteous that they feel it necessary to harass and marginalize other opinions around the campus.

Good for AR and other democrats that have expressed their outrage. No, not all “dirty liberals” condone this behavior, but the only way to show America that is by speaking loudly and forcibly towards those members who acted out of line… WAY out of line.

ralph

Another former CDer, you obviously can’t read.

It says “we extend our sincerest apology to those who were offended by the actions of one of our members” – doesn’t apology that they were offended, just specifies to who the apology is directed.

And, you’re way out of line.

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Etienne Gervaise

GWU must be turning into a really dubious institution for higher learning where freshmen already have their minds madeup about how the world works. There must be a lot of regretful parents springing for big loans to subsidize this sort of politically-correct maoist groupthink. I now see why my eldest son rejected college and went to work fixing helicopters instead. He persuaded me that in college he would not grow up.

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